


Binaural Fusion

by sedna_mode



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hance Zine 2017, M/M, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, POV Hunk (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 13:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12433587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sedna_mode/pseuds/sedna_mode
Summary: “It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends”is a line Hunk remembers from an old movie he watched once. There’s a certain irony, he thinks as he deflects another shot with his shield, that the person who introduced him to that movie is the one currently sniping at him on an alien planet light-years away from the blanket nest where he first heard those words





	Binaural Fusion

**Author's Note:**

> This was my entry for the Eventide hance zine! My idea behind it was to take S2E2 and flip it so Lance was the one mind controlled and Hunk had to break him out of it. It was written back in March/April but I'm still super proud of it :3
> 
> My eternal gratitude to Miss Onions for her amazing beta work <3

The first sign that something was wrong came in the form of a buzzing emanating from Hunk’s helmet. 

He had pulled it off to get a better look inside the machine he was currently inspecting for any technology which might benefit the Voltron Alliance. He and Lance had been sent down by Allura to gather intel on the great factories of Kadfess following the planet’s liberation by Team Voltron that afternoon. Lance had left some time ago to explore the factory, after fondly ribbing Hunk for being “no fun.” Hunk had rolled his eyes, calling after him that they weren’t here to play, before turning back to the machines and getting so engrossed  he utterly lost track of time, and of Lance . 

Until now. Even now, if the helmet hadn’t been nestled between Hunk’s legs where the slight vibrations could transmit to his thighs he would have missed the warning sign.

“What the--” Hunk started pulling his torso out of the machine,  just as the buzzing suddenly spiked into a loud burst of feedback. It was accompanied by a sharp yell from the general direction Lance had wandered off in, and then silence.

“Quiznak!” Scrambling backwards, Hunk finally extricated himself and grabbed his helmet, cold sweat prickling at the back of his neck. “Lance? Lance!”

He was about to slam his helmet down on his head to call Lance when he caught himself. If the helmets had been tampered with, now wasn’t the time to be putting it on. Hunk lowered it into his lap and reached for the scanner in his tool pouch.

“Lance, can you hear me?” Hunk called out again, quickly turning the scanner on and pointing it at his helmet. “Hon? If this is another one of your jokes it’s not funny!”

The scanner beeped; Hunk let out a colourful string of expletives at the readout. The feedback wasn’t just a malfunction. The headset was putting out an unknown frequency, just beyond the range of human hearing, and obviously not originating from the helmet itself or the Lions or the Castle. Whatever that frequency was, Hunk doubted it was anything good. 

“Well, I’m glad I wasn’t wearing this thing.” He eyed the yellow helmet in distaste, and turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. He froze. An image of Lance as he had last seen him rose to the front of his mind: arm raised in jaunty salute, blue helmet firmly pushed down on his head.  _ Oh no… _

Grabbing his helmet and a few tools from his kit, Hunk clambered to his feet and headed off in the direction he’d last heard Lance, moving as fast as he dared through the factory’s maze of machinery. 

“Lance, babe, if you can, say something, make a noise, anything.”

As he ran, Hunk pulled out his magnetic screwdriver and got to work prying open his helmet’s receiver box. If he could just disable that and disrupt the foreign signal, maybe he could call for backup… assuming the team was even out there and not down like Lance appeared to be. Hunk shook his head resolutely to dislodge the worst-case scenarios forming in his mind and ran around another machine, only half paying attention to his surroundings.

The laser shot whizzed in front of Hunk’s nose and exploded against the machine to his right. 

Hunk backpedaled with a cry, tool slipping from his fingers. It clattered away on the ground, spinning like a compass needle. Hunk pressed himself against the nearest surface, blinking spots from his vision as he materialized his shield.

He was about to lunge for his screwdriver when he froze, breath stuttering to a halt and head cocking in concentration. Masked at first by the sound of the tool falling was another sound, coming from above and to the right. Or maybe from behind, it was hard to tell in this big echo-y space. The clatter of retreating footsteps on the catwalk overhead.

“Lance!”

Tucking his helmet under his left arm to leave his right free for the shield, Hunk took off after the sound, pausing only to hastily scoop up his fallen tool and clip it to his belt.

“Lance, wait!”

He made it around two more machines before another laser shot came out of nowhere, hitting his shield squarely. Hunk staggered back a few steps under the force of the blow, wrist aching. Another ache blossomed in Hunk’s chest. Lance was  _ hunting him _ .

“Please, babe, I don’t want to have to fight you!” It was hard to yell past the lump in his throat

Lance’s footsteps retreated again, to Hunk’s left. Taking a deep breath, Hunk set his jaw and zeroed in on the noise. The room’s echo made the exact location difficult to pin down, but Hunk had years of knowing Lance to draw on. He knew how his boyfriend moved.

Making as much noise as possible to broadcast his position, Hunk set off again, this time moving with purpose. He made a few detours on the way, so as not to give away his plan, and when he reached the area where he predicted the next ambush would take place he charged right in. His heart rate spiked and his body tensed in anticipation of the shot.

Sure enough it came, this time from behind him and to the right. The shot grazed Hunk’s right shoulder, hitting the gap between his upper arm guard and shoulder pad where there was no armour. White-hot agony shot down his arm and side. He gripped the wound with his left hand, helmet clattering forgotten to the ground. Breathing hard through his mouth, Hunk grimly wrestled the pain into the back of his mind to deal with  _ later _ . 

He started moving again even before he caught the telltale clatter of footsteps overhead. The sound told him Lance was heading exactly where Hunk expected him to, and Hunk allowed himself a moment of bitter satisfaction. What was it Lance had said that one time?  _ Shoot where it’s gonna be, not where it is?  _ Oh, the irony.

Hunk moved quietly and purposefully through the maze of machines. When he reached his destination - a shadowy area of the factory where two catwalks intersected overhead - Lance was just coming up to the position. Hunk pressed himself into the dark space directly below and watched Lance approach. He had his bayard out and was looking around, no doubt trying to spot Hunk. Lance’s helmet was still on and his gaze was oddly vacant as he swept the area. Chills swept up Hunk’s spine.

Lance looked around one last time, calling his rifle into existence. He set himself up comfortably on the catwalk, bayard ready.

_ Okay. Okay okay okay.  _ Hunk sucked in a deep breath and carefully cleared his mind, discarding everything that wasn’t relevant to the immediate situation. One by one he let go of his fear, his heartbreak, his pain, until the only thing left was determination to do what had to be done.

Moving carefully and silently, Hunk called his bayard and materialized his cannon. He cast one last look at the prone figure overhead and hoisted his gun, aiming for the area next to Lance. 

Hunk opened fire. 

The short burst of shots wasn’t enough to damage the metal structure - not that he expected it to - but it was enough to catch Lance’s attention. Lance jumped to his feet and vaulted over the banister, activating his jetpack to slow his descent to the factory’s floor. Hunk stood his ground. He deactivated his bayard and reactivated his shield; he wasn’t about to face Lance with a weapon. Lance moved to stand in front of him without a word, features still eerily blank. 

“Lance, please! Snap out of it, I know you’re still in there. It’s me! It’s Hunk.”

Lance’s eyes narrowed; the first break in his mask Hunk had seen. Then he raised his bayard and fired. 

Hunk caught the shot on his shield and charged. Lance got off two more shots before Hunk was on him, grabbing for the rifle, pushing it up and out of the way. Switching tactics, Lance abandoned his bayard, instead aiming a punch at Hunk’s unprotected head. Hunk wasn’t quite fast enough. 

Pain flared in his temple where Lance connected. Hunk’s hand shot up blindly and he managed to grab hold of Lance’s wrist. Using his hold as leverage Hunk pulled Lance into a bear hug, pinning him against his broad chest. Lance struggled wildly, but Hunk held him secure. Shifting to hold Lance in one arm, Hunk freed his right hand and reached up for Lance’s helmet. 

Lance’s wriggling redoubled in intensity. Hunk’s grip faltered, but he managed to get two fingers hooked under the edge of Lance’s helmet and pulled it off.

The effect was immediate. Lance crumpled to the ground with an anguished cry, hands coming up to cradle his head. It was the first sound Hunk had heard him utter since he’d lost contact with him, and it shattered something in his chest. He knelt down next to Lance, hands hovering, unsure whether it was really over. Lance was rocking back and forth and muttering to himself.

“The noise, I can’t—it’s. Hunk, where are you—my ears, it hurts, the noise—“

“Lance, it’s okay. I’m here, it’s Hunk.”

Lance recoiled when Hunk touched him, pressing his hands more firmly to his head, but his eyes met Hunk’s and there was recognition there. Hunk sighed in relief and raised his hands carefully so Lance could see them.

“I—I can’t, Hunk, the noise, it’s in my head. I don’t know what I’ll do.” Lance’s eyes landed on the singed wound on Hunk’s shoulder. His face crumpled. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, oh God, Hunk, I’m sorry.”

“Hey. Hey hey hey, none of that.” Hunk slowly moved his hands forward to cover Lance’s on either side of his head, gently guiding him to look into Hunk’s eyes. Lance flinched at the contact, but didn’t pull away. “It wasn’t your fault, don’t you think that for a second. You did nothing wrong.”

“I can still hear it, Hunk. I still don’t feel completely in control.”

“Okay. I won’t let it take you again, promise. But if it’ll make you feel better, I can…” Hunk cast around for ideas. His gaze landed on Lance’s discarded helmet lying a few meters away. “Ah! Here’s what I’ll do. Let me just disable your helmet and make it so no sound can reach your ears, yeah? If you can’t hear anything at all, the noise can’t hurt you, right?”

Lance eyed his helmet and a shudder ran through him. “You know I trust you, but I don’t know if I can…”

“Right. Yes of course, I get it. So how about this. We’ll go pick up my helmet and use that one. You don’t have to touch yours again until we’ve run a full scan on it back at the Castle, how’s that sound?”

Lance visibly relaxed at the suggestion, though he still held himself under rigid control, as if one wrong move would allow the frequency to take over again. Hunk herded him to his feet, pausing only to scoop up Lance’s helmet and tuck it under his arm, out of sight. Slowly they made their way back to the place where Hunk had dropped his own helmet, Hunk guiding Lance with a hand hovering a few centimeters from his back, taking care not to touch him.

Once they had retrieved the yellow helmet, Hunk got to work finishing what he had started earlier. This time he opted for fully disabling it until even the indicator lights went dark. Only then did Hunk go over to where Lance had sat down, still holding his head, and crouched in front of him.

“Here we are, hon, this one is completely dead, see?” Hunk pulled the helmet on to demonstrate. “I can’t even hear the machines now. Or my own voice. Wow, this is better than I expected. What?”

A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of Lance’s mouth. He pointed at his own head; Hunk pulled off the helmet.

“You started yelling there at the end.”

“Did I?” Hunk grinned. Lance seemed to be shaking off the after effects of the mind control pretty well. With every passing minute Hunk could see more of his Lance coming back, and it settled the unease still gripping his heart. He didn’t want to admit it, but seeing Lance like that, so cold and vacant, had been deeply disturbing.

“Alright, you ready? I’m going to put this on you now, and then we’re getting out of here.”

Lance nodded and slowly moved his hands away so Hunk could slide the yellow helmet down on his head. As soon as it was on, his entire body went slack and he let Hunk pull him to his feet. Hunk slung one arm around Lance’s waist. This time Lance didn’t recoil from the touch, instead leaning into it. In his other hand, Hunk materialized his cannon once more - just in case they encountered trouble on the way out. 

Luckily, the factory was deserted. They emerged into the light of Kadfess’s three suns, unchallenged; both the yellow and blue lions were standing right outside the doors, tails lashing, tension evident in every line of their bodies. When their pilots stepped into view, they crouched down, great purrs echoing off the surrounding buildings.

Hunk quickly climbed into the yellow lion’s cockpit, Lance still glued to his side with the disabled yellow helmet on. When Hunk slid into his chair Lance wordlessly climbed into his lap, curling up and pressing in despite their armour in the way. Hunk slung an arm around him and squeezed, using his other hand to bring Yellow online and dial the Castle. Coran’s face was frantic when he came on screen.

“Hunk! There you are, thank the Ancients. And Lance too! Are you okay, what happened? We lost contact!”

“Slow down, Coran. We’re okay, mostly.” Hunk cast a glance down at Lance, who was watching the screen silently. “Listen, something interfered with the helmets. Can you help me check it out later?”

“The helmets?” Coran frowned. “Yes, yes of course, whatever you need. See you soon.”

Hunk turned to Lance, whose gaze was flicking between Hunk and the screen where Coran had just been. Lance took a deep breath, steeling himself, and finally reached up to pull off Hunk’s helmet.

“What was that about?”

Hunk smiled, bright and relieved. “Coran’s going to help me figure out what happened to the helmets, but right now we’re going home.”

Lance burrowed his nose into the warmth of Hunk’s neck and sighed, exhaustion from the day’s events dragging his eyelids shut.

“Good. ‘m glad tha’s over.”

Hunk’s laugh rumbled against his body, low and soft, and he dropped his lips onto the top of Lance’s head.

“Yeah. Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Come say hi on tumblr!](http://ace-pidge.tumblr.com/)


End file.
